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Rapid rise in diabetic kidney disease across Australia

ELEANOR HALL: Research released today by Sydney University's Kidney Research Group warns that the increase in diabetes in Australia is having grave consequences for kidney health.

It reveals that the spike in diabetic kidney disease across Australia is one of the largest increases of any developed country.

Thomas Oriti reports.

THOMAS ORITI: Kidney Health Australia says diabetes is "out of control" and is now the main cause of kidney failure in Australia.

Dr Timothy Mathew is the organisation's national medical director.

TIMOTHY MATHEW: The rise in the incidents of diabetes will likely continue and the number of people on dialysis and transplantation will likely double in the next 15 years. It puts costs around this, which are enormous, and illustrates that the kidney problem is one of the main, if not the main cause of people with diabetes dying early.

THOMAS ORITI: Dr Matthew is warning the condition is now reaching epidemic proportions, and is having an enormous impact.

TIMOTHY MATHEW: People on dialysis and transplantation are costing something like a billion dollars a year at the current time. I mean each individual on dialysis costs $60,000 to $80,000 per year so it's a high cost treatment. This report identifies that at least an extra billion is spent on the early part of kidney disease, that is, well before you start dialysis and transplantation.

The report prepared for Kidney Health Australia by the University of Sydney states that the number of people with diabetic kidney disease is anticipated to rise from 250,000 now, to about half a million in the next decade.

It's already straining the healthcare system.

Professor Steve Chadban is the director of kidney transplantation at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

STEVE CHADBAN: Our best estimate suggests that compared to a million people with diabetes in Australia today, it's likely that number will grow to somewhere between 2 and 3 million by 2025. Among people with diabetes, pretty much constantly one third of them get kidney disease.

THOMAS ORITI: Countries across the world have spent decades, and millions of dollars tackling the disease.

But Professor Chadban says it's a relatively new challenge in Australia.

STEVE CHADBAN: Traditionally, Australia has had lower dialysis and transplant rates than many of the other developed countries internationally, that is per million population we have less people on dialysis than others and I suspect we're catching up a little.

THOMAS ORITI: Dr Timothy Mathew says the best way to fight it is to focus on early detection.

TIMOTHY MATHEW: The single glaring gap in the best care of Australian diabetics people is in urine testing. The minority of people are still being tested once a year to see if they've got any urine protein, whereas the best care plans all call for annual checks in everybody.

And says lessons can be learned from other countries, including the United States.

STEVE CHADBAN: The rates per person with diabetes, the number of those people that go on to require dialysis or a transplant per annum has really flattened off quite impressively in the last number of years, and it seems to map out to much better usage of agents that we know can protect people from developing kidney disease in the context of diabetes, and can slow down progression of that kidney disease.